Black Friday Spending Could Land Shoppers In the Red

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — After binging on turkey for Thanksgiving, many shoppers may be purging their wallets during Black Friday shopping sprees. While many stores promise big, big savings, many end up spending more than they planned.

And that’s not the only problem, according to shopping enthusiast Kare Rodriguez, “it gets really crazy if you don’t go early and most of the stuff is already gone when you get in there.”

But those are not the only pitfalls that await eager shoppers as they attack store shelves this Friday. Scott Gamm, of helpsavemydollars.com, urges shoppers to pay close attention and “look at the fine print” while looking for that blockbuster deal.

Deals that exist “while supplies last” may be a clever ruse intended to draw shoppers into the store, but when the minimal stock is gone, shoppers may be inclined to spend their hard-earned cash on a more expensive product, CBS 2’s Cindy Hsu reported.

To avoid overspending, Gamm recommends a more pragmatic approach to holiday shopping, “to keep yourself disciplined and grounded, create that strict list, determine…who do I need to buy gifts for and how much am I going to spend.”

Gift cards and other incentives given for spending certain amounts of money may also be used to convince shoppers to run up a bigger bill than planned.

Alexa Von Tobel, the CEO and Founder of the financial site Learnvest, suggests talking to the salespeople about how to maximize your savings.

“Ask them ‘is this going to be cheaper today on Black Friday than it would be on Cyber Monday?’ You want to actually have the comparison and often they’re great people, they’ll tell you,” Von Tobel said.

Von Tobel also advises that shoppers pay attention to the cost that certain extras will tack on to your bill.

“Sometimes those batteries cost more than the toy does, so just be really thoughtful when you’re thinking that through — things like printers, the print cartridges are almost as expensive sometimes as the printers,” he said.

Finally, it is highly recommended that you ask about the return policy as many stores tighten their restrictions around the holidays.

Will you be fighting the crowds and hitting the stores this Friday? Or will you be waiting for Cyber Monday to shop from the comfort of your own home?